Field-testing enterococcus faecalis for bacterial source tracking
Author(s)
Rodgers, Karen
Hartel, Peter G.
Kuntz, Robin L.
Godfrey, Dominique G.
Segars, William I.
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Hatcher, Kathryn J.
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Abstract
A waste stabilization pond was suspected
of causing fecal contamination to Holt Branch, a
tributary of Juniper Creek, near Byron, Georgia. We
used ribotyping, a genotypic (DNA-based) bacterial
source tracking (BST) method, to match Enterococcus
faecalis isolates from Holt Branch and the waste
stabilization pond. Fecal enterococci in the effluent
from the waste stabilization pond averaged 13,863
colony-forming units (CFU) per 100 mL, and numbers
of fecal enterococci from Holt Branch averaged 3,290
CFU per 100 mL. The 17 Ent. faecalis isolates from
the Holt Branch yielded 4 ribotypes, and the 41 isolates
obtained from the waste stabilization pond yielded 9
ribotypes. All four ribotypes from Holt Branch matched
the ribotypes from the waste stabilization pond at a
100% similarity index, which suggested that the waste
stabilization pond was the source of fecal contamination
to Holt Branch. This is the first use of Ent. faecalis for
BST.
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Date
2003-04
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Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings